That theorem has been playing out for almost a decade now on that slippery slope above Irishtown Bend, a former shantytown sandwiched between West 25th Street and the Cuyahoga River.

Its instability helped deep-six a proposed Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority apartment complex and park in the late 1990s.

It's inexorable downhill shift cratered Riverbed Street in 2005. That thoroughfare -- key to businesses in the Flats -- was subsequently closed by the city.

In 2007, an aging sewer pipe under Riverbed Street was found to be threatened by the slow-moving dirt tsunami.

Now we are told that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will meet with government officials and affected business owners on Feb. 4 to present preliminary findings on whether the entire hill could avalanche into the river, blocking water access to such upstream industries as the ArcelorMittal steel plant.

We're guessing yes, it could.

Enough with the talk and the studies. Mayor Frank Jackson has already stepped up and requested $50 million from the promised presidential economic stimulus package to prevent this inevitable infrastructure collapse.

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.